Polly Clark writes in the Guardian (Family) section on Saturday, 25.3.17. that, for too many women, the shock of childbirth and its aftermath is akin to experiencing war, leaving them adrift, and absent in a profound way - but she points out that no one notices. In her article entitled 'Giving birth: the everyday Trauma' where she goes on to write that, after the birth of her daughter and for a few years after, she was not in the world as she previously knew it. She concludes that many women after birth suffer post traumatic stress disorder without recognition by the mainstream.
This makes me aware as a homeopath how much this situation must affect the bonding dynamic between mother and child even if the mother carries out all her duties as a mother. It also reminds me how one cannot be too formulaic in prescribing for post-natal depression. The remedy that is often given routinely is Sepia which could easily match the uppermost symptoms. However, if a woman has been traumatised in such a profound way, it could indicate that the experience taps into a much earlier unresolved trauma of parallel proportions which has commonly occurred in the early formative years. It is therefore this that needs to be explored and treated in order for the presenting state to be lastingly resolved.
Opium is a remedy which could be considered in these cases as a first prescription to reconcile the deeply embedded trauma from the past which is fuelling the current state. Once this remedy acts, then the case can be re-taken to help connect the patient with the 'fundamental layer'. This layer is often in connection with their mother's experience of their own birth or tied in with the relationship with the mother.
The Muriatic remedies often come up here, such as Ammonium Muriaticum, Magnesium Muriaticum, Muriatic Acid, or Natrum Muriaticum, as examples. In fact, I often find Magnesium Muriaticum a greater simillimum for post-natal depression than the rather formulaic Sepia which can be prescribed rather routinely without result.
Transgenerational trauma comes up in this scenario very markedly and it can only be fully resolved in my experience with this two-tier approach to tap into the full contributing issues. This is even if they occurred many years earlier. To read more about my research on transgenerational trauma, refer to my recently released book: Touching Base with Trauma: Reaching Across the Generations - a Three-Dimensional Homeopathic Perspective.